Pernod Ricard UK, the French-owned wine and spirits giant, has appointed MG OMD to its estimated £10m media planning and buying account following a four-way pitch.
It concludes a review that kicked off in February and which was reported by Campaign in March, when Havas Media was put on alert.
At the time, Pernod Ricard said that the French-owned agency had been invited to defend the business, which it had handled for six years. However, a spokesperson for Pernod Ricard said the agency declined to pitch.
As its new media agency partner, Omnicom’s MG OMD will work on Pernod Ricard’s online and offline channels, across a brand portfolio that includes Absolut, Chivas Regal, Jameson, Plymouth Gin, Beefeater, Havana Club, Campo Viejo and Brancott Estate.
The company said that it wanted to “identity a partner to provide best-in-class strategy planning, creativity and innovation across its premium portfolio of brands in the UK to support its growth ambitions”.
The review was held as part of Pernod Ricard UK’s marketing transformation and acceleration agenda and its shift towards ecommerce.
The process was handled by Abintus Consulting.
Last year, Pernod Ricard appointed Wavemaker to manage its global travel retail media account, which was previously managed in-house. That happened just before the pandemic halted large parts of the global travel industry.
Leanne Banks, Pernod Ricard UK’s marketing director, said: “Growth is a key priority and we want to further strengthen our position in the UK market by tapping into social occasions and championing a world of conviviality.
“Manning Gottlieb OMD impressed us with their understanding of our ambition, application of innovative tools to support our data agenda, and opportunity to differentiate ourselves amongst our brand’s audiences through the use of consumer insights.”
She added that she “would like to thank Havas Media for their valued collaboration over the last six years”.
Claire Marker, MG OMD’s chief client officer, said: ”Their brief to us was both exciting and challenging, which we love. We cannot wait to play a role in their journey of transformation and acceleration.”
On an earnings call earlier this year, Pernod Ricard talked about how it was modernising its marketing and stressed the importance of “leveraging internal and external data to optimise through artificial intelligence and algorithms, basically the effectiveness of where we invest our money to optimise the return of investment of that money”.
This article was originally published by Campaign.